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Saturday, April 24, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
"A Midsummer Night's Dream" (1935) with Olivia
Shakespeare's classic comes to the screen, in a big-budget all star spectacular from MGM. Other film versions are good, this is a tried-and-true classic gem - great stars, fantastic scenery. If you can get past the fact that the movie is in black-and-white (this was 1935 after all) then you will love this movie if you happen to be a fan of Shakespeare. Also notable: it's one of the first films of both Olivia de Havilland (Hermia) and young Mickey Rooney, who was only 15 when he played Puck. The young whippersnapper is quite entertaining in the part, he really hams it up for the camera. Shows alot of potential! Ms deHavilland is wonderful, as is James Cagney, who plays Nick Bottom.Also in the cast: Joe E. Brown: "Francis Flute". Dick Powell: "Lysander"
Two Academy Awards: "Best Cinematography", "Best Film Editing"
For more, read Kevin's review at his blog, Kevin's Movie Corner.
"This Above All" (1942) with Joan
"This Above All", released during World War II, in 1942, stars Joan Fontaine and Tyrone Power.
Joan as Prudence.
Joan plays Prudence Cathaway, a rich woman from a distinguished British family who decides to join the United Kingdom's Women's Auxiliary Air Force. In the service, she meets Clive (Power) who is absent without leave from the British Army. They begin to fall in love, but as she gets to know him, learns of his anti-war views and distain for the rich. He decides to leave as she goes back into service. Prudence's story seems to dominate the first hour, as she joins the air force and then meets Tyrone's Clive. And Clive's story dominates much of the first part of the second hour, finding spiritual inspiration with the council of a clergyman (Alexander Knox, from "Wilson"). But they're love won't keep them apart for long. A real tearjearker ending. Co-starring Gladys Cooper and Thomas Mitchell. Won Oscar for Best Art Direction (B/W), beating out "Random Harvest"(!), "Pride of the Yankees"(!!), and "Magnificent Ambersons"(!!!) Joan is beautiful in this movie with or without a uniform. 25 years old at the time, she gives a wonderful, emotion-filled performance, worthy of an Oscar nomination.
From 20th Century Fox Pictures. Directed by Anatole Litvak ("All This And Heaven Too", "The Snake Pit", "Anastasia"). Produced by Darryl F. Zanuck and Robert Bassler.
At the dinner table, Prudence tells her family she's enlisted in the WAAF
Prudence and other women about to enter service.
Joan and Tyrone have a roll in the hay.
Joan looking beautiful as Prudence, dressed up during her 6-day leave.
Lovely Joan sings "Leave the Home Fires Burning" in an unforgettable scene.
Our stars in a lavish Oscar-winning set. Clive gets a telegram issuing him to come back.
Prudence pleas with reluctant Clive to fight the good fight for England.
Prudence visits Clive in the hospital as bombs go off outside.
"This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man." - William Shakespeare, Hamlet
Also interesting, read the notes about the movie production from Turner Classic Movies.
Joan plays Prudence Cathaway, a rich woman from a distinguished British family who decides to join the United Kingdom's Women's Auxiliary Air Force. In the service, she meets Clive (Power) who is absent without leave from the British Army. They begin to fall in love, but as she gets to know him, learns of his anti-war views and distain for the rich. He decides to leave as she goes back into service. Prudence's story seems to dominate the first hour, as she joins the air force and then meets Tyrone's Clive. And Clive's story dominates much of the first part of the second hour, finding spiritual inspiration with the council of a clergyman (Alexander Knox, from "Wilson"). But they're love won't keep them apart for long. A real tearjearker ending. Co-starring Gladys Cooper and Thomas Mitchell. Won Oscar for Best Art Direction (B/W), beating out "Random Harvest"(!), "Pride of the Yankees"(!!), and "Magnificent Ambersons"(!!!) Joan is beautiful in this movie with or without a uniform. 25 years old at the time, she gives a wonderful, emotion-filled performance, worthy of an Oscar nomination.
From 20th Century Fox Pictures. Directed by Anatole Litvak ("All This And Heaven Too", "The Snake Pit", "Anastasia"). Produced by Darryl F. Zanuck and Robert Bassler.
Our stars in a lavish Oscar-winning set. Clive gets a telegram issuing him to come back.
"This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man." - William Shakespeare, Hamlet
Also interesting, read the notes about the movie production from Turner Classic Movies.
"I Remember Better When I Paint" (2009), A documentary narrated by Olivia
"I Remember Better When I Paint" is the first international documentary about the positive impact of art and other creative therapies on people with Alzheimer's and how these approaches can change the way we look at the disease.
Visit the documentary's official website
It is a film by Eric Ellena and Berna Huebner, presented by French Connection Films and the Hilgos Foundation, and narrated by Olivia de Havilland.
Watch a clip of the documentary, and listen to Olivia narrate:
Among those who are featured in the film are noted doctors and Yasmin Aga Khan, president of Alzheimer's Disease International and daughter of Rita Hayworth, who had Alzheimer's.
It is a film by Eric Ellena and Berna Huebner, presented by French Connection Films and the Hilgos Foundation, and narrated by Olivia de Havilland.
Watch a clip of the documentary, and listen to Olivia narrate:
Among those who are featured in the film are noted doctors and Yasmin Aga Khan, president of Alzheimer's Disease International and daughter of Rita Hayworth, who had Alzheimer's.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Photo: Joan Looking at the Oscar she won for "Suspicion"
Photographer: Peter Stackpole of LIFE
Originally Published in LIFE Magazine
March 1, 1942
Is it just me, or does she look like Julia Roberts in this picture?
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Joan's Guest Appearance on "The Love Boat" (1981)
This episode originally aired November 7, 1981 (Season 5, Episode 6: Chef's Special/Kleinschmidt/New Beginnings) Joan's segment was entitled "New Beginnings".
Joan plays Jennifer Langley who reunites with an old flame Stan (played by Richard Basehart) on the ship. They met in London during the war, as Jenny explains to Captain Stubing (Gavin MacCloud). Stan, who is now paralyzed, is reluctant to rekindle old memories.
The 2 clips below run a total of 15 enjoyable minutes. Joan and Richard are just wonderful. This was the first time they acted together.
Thanks to: KC of Classic Movies for sharing this on her blog (March 2010) and to the Joan Fontaine fan who edited the scenes together into two wonderful clips.
Joan plays Jennifer Langley who reunites with an old flame Stan (played by Richard Basehart) on the ship. They met in London during the war, as Jenny explains to Captain Stubing (Gavin MacCloud). Stan, who is now paralyzed, is reluctant to rekindle old memories.
The 2 clips below run a total of 15 enjoyable minutes. Joan and Richard are just wonderful. This was the first time they acted together.
Thanks to: KC of Classic Movies for sharing this on her blog (March 2010) and to the Joan Fontaine fan who edited the scenes together into two wonderful clips.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Olivia and Joan at the 60th Annual Academy Awards
The year was 1988. In honor of the milestone 60th anniversary ceremony, the Academy planned a huge "year by year" salute toward the end of the show, kind of like how they did it for the 70th and 75th Oscars where the stars on the stage would get a moment of screen time.
Among the legends invited to the LA Shrine Auditorium on that hot April day in 1988: Paul Newman, Gregory Peck, and Audrey Hepburn, just to name a few.
Also invited: Olivia deHavilland and Joan Fontaine.
They both showed up to the ceremony, yet they arrived separately.
According to the book, "Inside Oscar" by Mason Wiley and Damien Bona:
Rebecca's Joan Fontaine managed to arrive on time without the help of the Academy's escort-who never materialized-but her sister wasn't so lucky. Olivia had to hop out of her car and hike 10 blocks in order to be there to hand out an award. Robert Osborne recounted that "She and others were all dressed to the nines, hurrying off to a ga-ga glmaour event while rushing past taco stands, donut shops, and gawking onlookers, the latter munching on hot dogs and cradling babies, surprised at the unexpected passerby. Sigh!
Olivia was scheduled to present an award that night.
Joan wasn't asked to present (either that or she refused; it's uncertain), but her sister was invited to present the Oscar for Art Direction and she accepted. Olivia's appearance was within the first hour of the ceremony, right after Olympia Dukakis won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress Moonstruck.
Olivia walked onstage to "Tara's Theme". There was a standing ovation. The television cameras didn't get a shot of Joan; so viewers couldn't tell if she was standing or sitting during the ovation.
Olivia enthusiastically announcened the winners of the award (the team from "The Last Emperor").
The big moment of the evening was supposed to be at the end--shortly before the last Oscar (Best Picture) was handed out. It was to be a salute to all 60 of the past Oscar winning years. Supposedly, the Academy invited at least one cast member from an Oscar winning film from each year (1927-1987), and they would appear on stage and on camera for a brief moment as each year and film would be introduced one by one.
Olivia would be representing "Gone With the Wind". Joan would be representing "Rebecca".
But the "Year by Year" segment flopped.
Shortly before air time, legendary silent/20s/30s actress Anita Page (age 77) was so overcome with heat exhaustion that she collapsed as she approached the red carpet. She was rushed to a local hospital and treated.
Thankfully, Ms Page was OK after awhile, but her absence left a void in the "Year by Year" presentation. Apparently she was the only person there to represent the year 1928 (The Broadway Melody) So the producers of the show scrapped the segment at the last minute.
As a consolation, the director of the telecast made sure that cameras caught a few glimpses of some of the recognizable (or perhaps not so recognizable) film legends throughout the night, so viewers were able to at least see Mercedes McCambridge (All The King's Men, 1949), Karl Malden (On The Waterfront, 1954), Charles "Buddy" Rogers (Wings, 1927), Celeste Holm (All About Eve, 1950), Charlton Heston (Ben Hur, 1959), and Burt Lancaster (From Here to Eternity, 1953), even for just a few seconds.
Other legends were there in the audience, such as Roddy McDowall (How Green Was My Valley, 1941) and Robert Stack (Written on the Wind, 1956), but sadly, they didn't get any screen time, not even a reaction shot. I'm sure there were more stars present, but I just don't know who.
There was only one shot of Ms. Fontaine during the entire ceremony; it was a reaction shot where the audience sees how she was clearly not amused with host Chevy Chase's unfunny monologue.
According to the aforementioned book Inside Oscar, Joan became a little impatient towards the end of the ceremony, and was wondering when it was time for her appearance onstage. Reportedly she was sitting very close to Roddy McDowell, and at one point turned to him as asked, "When do we go on?" "Later Later" he assured Rebecca's second Mrs. deWinter.
Apparently a number of the stars were never told that the segment was cancelled, nor that Anita Page was hospitalized.
It's too bad the "Oscar-Year-by-Year" segment flopped. It would have been a neat segment to watch. The Academy tried a similar stunt again for the the 70th (1998) and 75th (2003) ceremonies when they invited all of the Oscar recipients of acting awards (but in '98 and '03, it didn't matter what year the stars represented, since they were introduced alphabetically--the Academy learned from their embarrassing mistake)
____
That night in 1988, there was no "reunion" between Olivia de Havilland and her sister Joan Fontaine, something many fans were hoping for. It's possible that it the last time the two sisters were in the same building together.
According to the book "Inside Oscar", Joan was upset about the segment being cancelled, and that she didn't receive any screen time other than one split-second reaction shot. She reportedly vowed to never return to another Oscars ceremony which explains her absence from the 70th and 75th anniversary tributes. (Olivia appeared at the 75th Oscar ceremony in 2003)
Among the legends invited to the LA Shrine Auditorium on that hot April day in 1988: Paul Newman, Gregory Peck, and Audrey Hepburn, just to name a few.
Also invited: Olivia deHavilland and Joan Fontaine.
They both showed up to the ceremony, yet they arrived separately.
According to the book, "Inside Oscar" by Mason Wiley and Damien Bona:
Rebecca's Joan Fontaine managed to arrive on time without the help of the Academy's escort-who never materialized-but her sister wasn't so lucky. Olivia had to hop out of her car and hike 10 blocks in order to be there to hand out an award. Robert Osborne recounted that "She and others were all dressed to the nines, hurrying off to a ga-ga glmaour event while rushing past taco stands, donut shops, and gawking onlookers, the latter munching on hot dogs and cradling babies, surprised at the unexpected passerby. Sigh!
Olivia was scheduled to present an award that night.
Joan wasn't asked to present (either that or she refused; it's uncertain), but her sister was invited to present the Oscar for Art Direction and she accepted. Olivia's appearance was within the first hour of the ceremony, right after Olympia Dukakis won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress Moonstruck.
Olivia walked onstage to "Tara's Theme". There was a standing ovation. The television cameras didn't get a shot of Joan; so viewers couldn't tell if she was standing or sitting during the ovation.
Olivia enthusiastically announcened the winners of the award (the team from "The Last Emperor").
The big moment of the evening was supposed to be at the end--shortly before the last Oscar (Best Picture) was handed out. It was to be a salute to all 60 of the past Oscar winning years. Supposedly, the Academy invited at least one cast member from an Oscar winning film from each year (1927-1987), and they would appear on stage and on camera for a brief moment as each year and film would be introduced one by one.
Olivia would be representing "Gone With the Wind". Joan would be representing "Rebecca".
But the "Year by Year" segment flopped.
Shortly before air time, legendary silent/20s/30s actress Anita Page (age 77) was so overcome with heat exhaustion that she collapsed as she approached the red carpet. She was rushed to a local hospital and treated.
Thankfully, Ms Page was OK after awhile, but her absence left a void in the "Year by Year" presentation. Apparently she was the only person there to represent the year 1928 (The Broadway Melody) So the producers of the show scrapped the segment at the last minute.
As a consolation, the director of the telecast made sure that cameras caught a few glimpses of some of the recognizable (or perhaps not so recognizable) film legends throughout the night, so viewers were able to at least see Mercedes McCambridge (All The King's Men, 1949), Karl Malden (On The Waterfront, 1954), Charles "Buddy" Rogers (Wings, 1927), Celeste Holm (All About Eve, 1950), Charlton Heston (Ben Hur, 1959), and Burt Lancaster (From Here to Eternity, 1953), even for just a few seconds.
Other legends were there in the audience, such as Roddy McDowall (How Green Was My Valley, 1941) and Robert Stack (Written on the Wind, 1956), but sadly, they didn't get any screen time, not even a reaction shot. I'm sure there were more stars present, but I just don't know who.
There was only one shot of Ms. Fontaine during the entire ceremony; it was a reaction shot where the audience sees how she was clearly not amused with host Chevy Chase's unfunny monologue.
According to the aforementioned book Inside Oscar, Joan became a little impatient towards the end of the ceremony, and was wondering when it was time for her appearance onstage. Reportedly she was sitting very close to Roddy McDowell, and at one point turned to him as asked, "When do we go on?" "Later Later" he assured Rebecca's second Mrs. deWinter.
Apparently a number of the stars were never told that the segment was cancelled, nor that Anita Page was hospitalized.
It's too bad the "Oscar-Year-by-Year" segment flopped. It would have been a neat segment to watch. The Academy tried a similar stunt again for the the 70th (1998) and 75th (2003) ceremonies when they invited all of the Oscar recipients of acting awards (but in '98 and '03, it didn't matter what year the stars represented, since they were introduced alphabetically--the Academy learned from their embarrassing mistake)
That night in 1988, there was no "reunion" between Olivia de Havilland and her sister Joan Fontaine, something many fans were hoping for. It's possible that it the last time the two sisters were in the same building together.
According to the book "Inside Oscar", Joan was upset about the segment being cancelled, and that she didn't receive any screen time other than one split-second reaction shot. She reportedly vowed to never return to another Oscars ceremony which explains her absence from the 70th and 75th anniversary tributes. (Olivia appeared at the 75th Oscar ceremony in 2003)
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